Friday, August 22, 2014

If you're a parent, you've likely already paid big bucks for your child to have one of these.

If not...better start saving now! But one thing parents rarely think about as they're signing up for that contract is that the day will come when they're trying to reach that child...and...

Remember, you bought that phone. You're paying the contract every month. You rationalize to yourself, "Maybe she put her cell phone down," but she lives with you. You know she looks like this 24/7:

So what do you do? You could take her phone away, but you know what will happen then.

What if you could lock her phone on command? Then, if she didn't respond, she couldn't use her phone to do anything but call a parent? That would make her call you back...

A frustrated mom came up with exactly that solution. Ignore No More is an Android app that lets a parent control every device in the house from one phone. No answer to your call/text? Lock the phone and leave the person no other choice but to respond. If the child really is in a situation where no phones are allowed, you can bet you'll be the first call.

Do your children have phones? Do they always respond to your calls or texts immediately? What excuses do they come up with when they don't? Want some FREE bookmarks for your classroom or library? Email me with your address and I'll send some right away.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

I once heard a bunch of writers gossiping about a successfully published writer. They were all at one event, hanging around by the pool, when they noticed this successful novelist was sitting by herself, typing away on her laptop.They called her a workaholic.

At the time I was a government employee. I wrote at night and on weekends for FUN. I couldn't think of anything else I'd rather be doing than writing.

Now I'm a full-time writer. On a weekly basis, I receive between 10 and 20 assignments for articles ranging in length from 300 words to 1,000 words. I get paid for these...and they expect them fairly quickly.

At the same time, I'm also working on my novel and writing and reading blogs. If I'm not eating, sleeping, or doing household chores, I'm probably writing.And I love every minute of it.So that brings the question...am I a workaholic?Or just a writeaholic?

Monday, August 18, 2014

When I participate in author events, I love to do a drawing for a free signed copy of my book. It makes my day to see how excited the winner gets.

Each time, someone snaps a photo of me with the winner. And each time, I grapple with whether to post the photo online. Yet repeatedly I see authors post photos of themselves with young fans on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and their blogs.

There are laws about posting pictures of people without permission. Generally speaking, if they're in a public place (like the J.K. Rowling event above), it's okay. However, if the photo is taken in a place where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy, you may be violating that person's rights.

Okay, so technically, a book event is a public place. No one should have a reasonable expectation of privacy while posing with an author. However, when that person is a child, there is a completely different set of issues.

There was a case recently where Facebook removed a photo of a woman's young daughter where her buttocks were exposed. The photo was meant to mimic this 1959 ad.

The mom protested, but the entire thing served to remind us that we live in different times. In 1959, even a real photo of a child's bare buttocks was innocent and cute. Today, we know a little too much about society. Today's parents, rightly so, want to control who sees photos of their children online.

For that reason, I'm a little iffy about posting photos of other people's children, even with parental permission. What do you think? How should authors handle posting photos of young fans online?